NBA Draft 2017: Date, Selection Order, Lottery Predictions and Top Prospects

Part of the 2017 NBA draft order is set. Just not the part that people, you know, care a whole lot about.

The conclusion of the 2016-17 NBA regular season ensures the 14 non-playoff teams will be hanging out until May 16 to see where they select. Of course, some of those non-playoff teams have already punted their draft pick and will send a representative to the lottery in the saddest possible form.

Those 16 teams that will continue playing after tonight's action are locked into their draft spots. Unlike the NFL, the NBA does not reorder its draft based on postseason performance. The Utah Jazz, who own the Golden State Warriors' selection, will be picking No. 30 regardless of how Golden State does in the next two months.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the lottery odds for every team and how the back half of the draft will play out.

Draft Order/Lottery Odds

Pick	Team	Odds of No. 1 Pick
1	Boston Celtics (from BKN)	25.0%
2	Phoenix Suns	19.9%
3	Los Angeles Lakers	15.6%
4	Philadelphia 76ers	11.9%
5	Orlando Magic	8.8%
6	New York Knicks	6.3%
7	Minnesota Timberwolves	4.3%
8	Sacramento Kings	2.8%
9	Dallas Mavericks	1.7%
10	Sacramento Kings (from NO)	1.1%
11	Charlotte Hornets	0.8%
12	Detroit Pistons	0.7%
13	Denver Nuggets	0.6%
14	Miami Heat	0.5%
15	Chicago Bulls	N/A
16	Portland Trail Blazers	N/A
17	Indiana Pacers	N/A
18	Milwaukee Bucks	N/A
19	Atlanta Hawks	N/A
20	Portland Trail Blazers (from MEM)	N/A
21	Oklahoma City Thunder	N/A
22	Brooklyn Nets (from WSH)	N/A
23	Toronto Raptors (from LAC)	N/A
24	Orlando Magic (from TOR)	N/A
25	Utah Jazz	N/A
26	Portland Trail Blazers (from CLE)	N/A
27	Brooklyn Nets (from BOS)	N/A
28	Los Angeles Lakers (from HOU)	N/A
29	San Antonio Spurs	N/A
30	Utah Jazz (from GSW)	N/A

Scenarios of note

• The Lakers convey their pick to the Sixers if it falls outside the top three.
• The Kings convey their pick to the Bulls if it falls outside the top 10.
• Philadelphia holds pick-swap rights with Sacramento.
• The Bulls and Blazers finished with identical records; their order will be determined at a later date.
• The Pacers and Bucks finished with identical records; their order will be determined at a later date.
• The Hawks and Grizzlies finished with identical records; their order will be determined at a later date.
• The Cavaliers, Jazz, Clippers and Raptors finished with identical records; their order will be determined at a later date.

Top 40 Prospects

Ranking	Player	Position	School
1	Markelle Fultz	PG	Washington
2	Josh Jackson	SF	Kansas
3	Jonathan Isaac	F	Florida State
4	Lonzo Ball	PG	UCLA
5	Jayson Tatum	SF	Duke
6	Frank Ntilikina	PG	France
7	De'Aaron Fox	PG	Kentucky
8	Malik Monk	SG	Kentucky
9	Lauri Markkanen	PF	Arizona
10	Dennis Smith	PG	N.C. State
11	Miles Bridges	SF	Michigan State
12	TJ Leaf	SF	UCLA
13	Harry Giles	PF	Duke
14	Ivan Rabb	PF	Cal
15	Isaiah Hartenstein	PF	Germany
16	Justin Patton	C	Creighton
17	OG Anunoby	SF	Indiana
18	Luke Kennard	SG	Duke
19	Terrance Ferguson	SG	Australia
20	Robert Williams	PF/C	Texas A&M
21	Rodions Kurucs	SF	Latvia
22	Zach Collins	C	Gonzaga
23	Tyler Lydon	SF	Syracuse
24	Caleb Swanigan	PF	Purdue
25	Jarrett Allen	C	Texas
27	John Collins	PF	Wake Forest
27	Edrice Adebayo	PF/C	Kentucky
28	Marques Bolden	C	Duke
29	Josh Hart	SG	Villanova
30	Ike Anigbogu	C	UCLA
31	Justin Jackson	SF	North Carolina
32	Jonathan Jeanne	C	France
33	Alec Peters	SF	Valparaiso
34	Grayson Allen	SG	Duke
35	Thomas Bryant	C	Indiana
36	Donovan Mitchell	SG	Louisville
37	Kostja Mushidi	SG	Belgium
38	Jaron Blossomgame	SF	Clemson
39	Dillon Brooks	SF	Oregon
40	Johnathan Motley	PF	Baylor

Lottery Predictions

Lakers Will Convey Pick to Sixers

The Lakers sure made a mess of this whole thing. Their 10-10 start got Luke Walton exalted as the Next Great Head Coach, before things fell completely apart and Los Angeles won 11 of its next 56 games. No one wants a losing season, but the best-case scenario seemed to be playing out for the Lakers.

Sitting with the NBA's second-worst record, the Lakers had good odds for their pick staying at No. 3 or better—thus keeping Philly's greedy paws off it. The pick loses its protection next season, at a point when the Lakers can reasonably expect to start making visible forward momentum. They're not going to be a playoff team next year, but it's easier to swallow giving up the No. 9 or No. 10 pick than No. 4.

Well, the Lakers went ahead and won a whole bunch of games and are now on the edge of losing their pick. The Lakers finished with five straight wins—before losing their season finale to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday—propelling them ahead of the spiraling Phoenix Suns.

They now have a 53 percent of losing their pick to Philly. The worst part of this whole thing is that if they do lose their pick, the Lakers will also be forced to relinquish their 2019 first-round selection to the Orlando Magic for the Dwight Howard trade.

Who knew winning could be so awful?

The Nets—Err, Celtics—Will Not Win the Lottery

Since the lottery (generally) began using its current formula in 1994, the team with best odds (worst record) has won it four times. Two of those have come in the last two seasons. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Sixers have locked themselves into the top pick, and each year not a single pick moved in the entire lottery.

Coming up with the same result three years in a row—something that's never happened before—would be a surprise.

The Celtics are guaranteed a top-four pick regardless of how the lottery falls. That's not a bad result for a team that just finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

It's just a gut feeling that we won't be seeing a third straight lottery have the most likely result.

No One Will Do Anything Fun or Goofy

If last year is any indication, the days of viral sensations on lottery night are a thing of the past. What a bore that thing was. Teams are a little too self-conscious about turning themselves into memes, and the NBA takes the whole lottery thing too seriously. 

The whole thing should be a circus. Put the best entertainers of the city on the podium and have them actually react as the picks go down instead of smiling politely at the camera. Because of television, a 45-second process takes 30 minutes, so why not make this thing a little more fun? 

Make this more of a fantasy draft chat room and less of a wake. We'll all be the better for it.